Cyprus-Forum.com

[joe]

Articles below are from the Cyprus Weekly.
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European leaders denounce Turkey's war threats against Cyprus

Angelos Marcopoulos reports from Paris

TURKEY'S threats of war to prevent oil exploration by Cyprus at sea were strongly denounced yesterday by leading European officials gathered here.

"War threats are incompatible with the principles of the Council of Europe. We are against war threats,'' Terry Davis, the CoE Secretary-General told The Cyprus Weekly.

Ankara's threat to prevent Cyprus's agreement with Lebanon and Egypt for joint oil exploration and economic development in the eastern Mediterranean also violate CoE principles for peaceful cooperation, Davis added.

This view was echoed by the spokesman of the French Foreign Ministry, who said there would be a more detailed French reaction to the Turkish threats later.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy promised to issue a statement later after listening carefully to me explain the situation to him in detail.

The spokesman of the current German chairmanship of the EU also expressed astonishment and concern.

"I have never seen anything like this. Turkey, as a candidate that wants to join the EU has to fulfil certain conditions,'' the spokesman said.

The EU's German spokesman pointed out that a German naval force is currently based in Cyprus under a UN mandate to secure Lebanon's coasts.

"Consequently, I cannot tell what might happen if there was any external interference," he said.

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EU Presidency determined to solve missing persons drama

From Angelos Marcopoulos in Paris

"THE German EU Presidency will do its best to help bring forward unresolved core Human Rights issues,'' Peter Wittig, the Director General for Human Rights at Germany's Foreign Ministry, said here yesterday.

He was responding to my question about the anguish of the relatives of the 1,500 Greek Cypriot missing in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion who are still waiting to hear from Turkey about the fate of their loved ones.

Wittig noted that Turkey's persistent refusal to implement the judgement of the European Human Rights Court on the missing was scheduled for discussion at next week's meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg, where Germany leads the 27-member EU group of nations.

"We will do so, simply because this is completely in line with our vision of Europe," Wittig said, making an indirect reference to German Chancellor Angie Merkel's statement earlier in the week before the EU Parliament that "Europe's soul is Human Rights."

Take a stand



"We (the EU) have to take a stand, and say what we think is just," on core Human Rights' issues, Wittig said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the Paris World Congress against the death penalty as the EU Presidency's Representative there. He was concerned that "exceptional'' unresolved grave Human Rights' violations in Europe, such as the drama of the Cyprus missing, "must not damage the credibility of Europe's unanimous struggle against the death penalty.''

[karma]

dont worry , there will be no war in near future, let the oil be found first..if there is any..

[EUropean666]

it is crystal clear who is the troublemaker of the region.

[ken910]

yeah the greeks always wanting wanting reminds me of my kids spoilt

[humanist]

The RoC right?

[shahmaran]

the oil issue is nothing new, there probably is a much more sinister reason for the RoC's provocative attitude for pushing Turkeys buttons all over again these days, im sure portraying Turkey as the "trouble maker of the region" fits to their little agendas somewhere along the line, no Greek is stupid enough to go to war with Turkey EVER again, doesnt matter which "big boy" they suck up to...

[pitsilos]

do you think drilling for oil in your own back yard constitutes reasons for going to war?

and shahmaran we all suck the same c_ck mate. they tell us what to do and we do it. believe it or not even big mighty turkey does.

[shahmaran]

its not only YOUR back yard is it?

[miltiades]

NO , Shah , is OUR back yard , yours and mine , it belongs to every Cypriot and most certainly it does NOT belong to Turkey .

[pitsilos]

its not only YOUR back yard is it?

no shahmaran when i say cyprus i include all the cypriots and not just the gc.

you want a share? cross the line my friend and its there for you. simple as that.

its a lot more than what i can say for the occupied areas.